Kansas rewind: Crash talkin' after the STP 400

Published: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 9:17 a.m.

You have heard of trash talking. At Kansas Speedway after Sunday's STP 400 the drivers were "crash talking." Here's a sampling.

Sam Hornish Jr., No. 12 Ford, 37th

“I couldn't see anything. I saw the back of the No. 34 or No. 38, I'm not sure which one it was, and then I saw the No. 9 sitting sideways right at the exit of the corner. I lifted and turned down, which made my hit to the inside wall harder because as soon as you lift and put all that weight up there it gives me enough turn to try to get away from the No. 9, but then I can't get it back in the other direction. It's too bad for the guys who work on this SKF Penske Ford. I just wish we could have done a little bit better. We got off on our strategy early and this is so much about track position here and how you're running through your tires – whether you're taking two or four. We just got ourselves out of sequence and could never make it back up again.”

A lot of cars spinning. Why?

“I don't know. It's really, really free out there. There was a point in time where we were really good on the restart and could go for 10 laps, and then the car would get really free in and off the corners, and then after about 20 laps it would be fine for about the next 15, and then it would start doing it again. It's just a weird way that the car and the tires and everything were reacting together. I think it has to do with putting rubber down and also the sun coming out and heating the track up, but the exit of Turn 2 is pretty tough for a lot of people just sliding and getting off the corner because if you run high, you're already a little bit loose and if you try to run low, you just can't keep the rear underneath you to put the power down.”

Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, 38th

What happened that took you out of the race?

"Spun twice on our own. Just don't know what to do with Kansas."

Is there a lack of grip on the surface?

"Yeah, absolutely no grip for me anyways. But, you know, you're running third and doing fine, car a little tight and you spin out. I don't know what to do with that and then we're back in traffic all day. Traffic is way worse. Just trying to get back up to the front and making some gains, but car just snaps out from you every corner."

Joe Logan, No. 22 Ford, 39th

What happened?

“I watched the No. 18. He was spinning out and I saw it the whole time. I saw he got loose and thought, ‘OK, he's gonna come back across,' and he didn't. It looked like he was gonna stay up there because he kind of slapped the wall with the right side after he hit it the first time, so I'm like, ‘All right, I'm gonna gun it and get by him here,' and as soon as I committed to that I saw him start coming back down. At that point you're just lined up to him and hit him a ton. I'm fine. It's just unfortunate for the AAA guys. They deserve better than that. We were working hard on getting our car better. We weren't gonna gain many points this weekend, but we were gonna try to rally for the best possible finish we could get out of it, but it's not good for us.”

How are the conditions out there?

“This track is just so narrow right now. You can't move around. We were tight for the most part, trying to free it up, and then we put left sides on there and got really loose. I was trying to hold on for what we had and I think there were a lot of guys around us that did the same thing and were really loose. We weren't having a good day as it was, but you don't want to end up in the garage like this.”

Elliott Sadler, No. 81 Toyota, 40th

What happened that took you out of the race?

"We just got a little loose getting into Turn 3. The car was kind of darting around a little bit and I was just kind fighting the steering of it some. Just came around on me too quick -- just ended a lot shorter than I wanted to. Need to thank all the guys for their hard work and ALERT for coming on board. Not the day that they wanted to have here today."

Did the wind impact the accident?

"I don't think the wind had any effect on what we were doing. We are going to dissect it and see what changes we made and things we can do to better prepare ourselves for the next race."

<p>You have heard of trash talking. At Kansas Speedway after Sunday's STP 400 the drivers were "crash talking." Here's a sampling.</p><p><b>Sam Hornish Jr., No. 12 Ford, 37th</b></p><p>“I couldn't see anything. I saw the back of the No. 34 or No. 38, I'm not sure which one it was, and then I saw the No. 9 sitting sideways right at the exit of the corner. I lifted and turned down, which made my hit to the inside wall harder because as soon as you lift and put all that weight up there it gives me enough turn to try to get away from the No. 9, but then I can't get it back in the other direction. It's too bad for the guys who work on this SKF Penske Ford. I just wish we could have done a little bit better. We got off on our strategy early and this is so much about track position here and how you're running through your tires – whether you're taking two or four. We just got ourselves out of sequence and could never make it back up again.” </p><p><b>A lot of cars spinning. Why?</b></p><p>“I don't know. It's really, really free out there. There was a point in time where we were really good on the restart and could go for 10 laps, and then the car would get really free in and off the corners, and then after about 20 laps it would be fine for about the next 15, and then it would start doing it again. It's just a weird way that the car and the tires and everything were reacting together. I think it has to do with putting rubber down and also the sun coming out and heating the track up, but the exit of Turn 2 is pretty tough for a lot of people just sliding and getting off the corner because if you run high, you're already a little bit loose and if you try to run low, you just can't keep the rear underneath you to put the power down.”</p><p><b>Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, 38th</b></p><p><b>What happened that took you out of the race?</b></p><p>"Spun twice on our own. Just don't know what to do with Kansas."</p><p><b>Is there a lack of grip on the surface?</b></p><p>"Yeah, absolutely no grip for me anyways. But, you know, you're running third and doing fine, car a little tight and you spin out. I don't know what to do with that and then we're back in traffic all day. Traffic is way worse. Just trying to get back up to the front and making some gains, but car just snaps out from you every corner."</p><p><b>Joe Logan, No. 22 Ford, 39th</b></p><p><b>What happened?</b></p><p> “I watched the No. 18. He was spinning out and I saw it the whole time. I saw he got loose and thought, 'OK, he's gonna come back across,' and he didn't. It looked like he was gonna stay up there because he kind of slapped the wall with the right side after he hit it the first time, so I'm like, 'All right, I'm gonna gun it and get by him here,' and as soon as I committed to that I saw him start coming back down. At that point you're just lined up to him and hit him a ton. I'm fine. It's just unfortunate for the AAA guys. They deserve better than that. We were working hard on getting our car better. We weren't gonna gain many points this weekend, but we were gonna try to rally for the best possible finish we could get out of it, but it's not good for us.” </p><p><b>How are the conditions out there?</b></p><p> “This track is just so narrow right now. You can't move around. We were tight for the most part, trying to free it up, and then we put left sides on there and got really loose. I was trying to hold on for what we had and I think there were a lot of guys around us that did the same thing and were really loose. We weren't having a good day as it was, but you don't want to end up in the garage like this.”</p><p><b>Elliott Sadler, No. 81 Toyota, 40th</b></p><p><b>What happened that took you out of the race?</b></p><p>"We just got a little loose getting into Turn 3. The car was kind of darting around a little bit and I was just kind fighting the steering of it some. Just came around on me too quick -- just ended a lot shorter than I wanted to. Need to thank all the guys for their hard work and ALERT for coming on board. Not the day that they wanted to have here today."</p><p><b>Did the wind impact the accident?</b></p><p>"I don't think the wind had any effect on what we were doing. We are going to dissect it and see what changes we made and things we can do to better prepare ourselves for the next race."</p>